Mass Effect 2 PS3 Reviews

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Written by Brother None on January 18th, 2011

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It's unfortunate that such a stellar game has made a not-quite-stellar transition to its new platform. The technical inconsistencies are most apparent in the Overlord sequence, in which you speed around in a land rover known as the hammerhead. The onboard computer invites you to drink in the beautiful scenery, but you are more likely to notice the frightful visual stutters as you zoom about. There are expanses here in which unsightly pixels cover the ground, as well as numerous areas in which you can fly inside the geometry. Frame rate inconsistencies are common and aren't limited to just these missions, though the most apparent hitches appear in the content released as DLC for the previously released versions. Other troubles are carryovers from other platforms. Don't be surprised, for example, if you rise helplessly into the air and become unable to move. Sadly, there is no way to recover from this bug other than to reload a previously saved game.

These flaws aren't enough to overwhelm Mass Effect 2's superb art design, however. Rich indigo lighting and brightly glowing lava saturate certain scenes, making them richer and more sinister. Subtle, moody lighting and carefully constructed camera angles give certain interactions great impact. For example, in one scene, your tattooed teammate appears as a black silhouette, which emphasizes her conflicting emotions. In another, extreme close-ups betray a minor character's true role in an ongoing mission. The electric, swirling atmosphere that envelops you in the Shadow Broker mission is particularly memorable and makes the battles occurring on the exterior of a sprawling vessel even more stimulating. The pulse of electronic music and strong red hues punctuate your visits to a deep-space nightclub. Textures look even more detailed on the PS3 than on the Xbox 360, though the aforementioned technical hitches and some surprisingly long loading times make it a less consistent product than the versions released in 2010.

The gameplay analysis confirms that the PS3 frame-rate has definitely been capped to 30FPS, just like the Xbox 360 version (we saw anything up to 40FPS and beyond in the unlocked, v-sync-free demo version on PS3). Overall, performance isn't so different across the run of play between the two versions of Mass Effect 2: Xbox 360 frame-rate tends to suffer when Shepard gets a missile to the face, while the PS3 game clearly has issues maintaining 30FPS in the initial clip where - once again - we see heavy use of alpha for the atmospheric effects.

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The most noticeable difference between the two games comes down to lighting. In our original Mass Effect 2 demo comparison story we posted at the tail end of last year, we speculated that the new ME3 tech may have necessitated the changes. Subsequent to that, there has been the suggestion that the firm simply wanted to make the PS3 game "clearer and more vibrant".

Not all of the differences between the consoles come out in the 360's favor. You get more for your money on PS3, since all three of the major downloadable missions Kasumi, Overlord, and Lair of the Shadow Broker are already on the disc and seamlessly integrated into the experience. Plus, you can still connect to the Cerberus Network and download free add-ons like Zaeed and the Normandy crash site. You don't need to worry about paying for extra missions; you get everything worth playing for the price of admission.

One of the biggest perks of ME2 was the ability to import your save data from the first game. Major decisions you made, be they who lived or died, or whether you were a Paragon or Renegade, carried over into ME2 and had observable changes to the experience. But PS3 has no original Mass Effect, so BioWare had Dark Horse Comics create a 12 minute motion comic that summarizes the plots points of the first game and offers you a chance to make some of those crucial decisions.

While this is a nice inclusion, and does give you a bird's-eye view of the major plot points and characters, it doesn't capture the feeling of the first game at all. Yes you know there's a council of alien races living on the Citadel, but you have no appreciation for either. You know Ashley is a tough soldier, but her xenophobic opinions of alien life are left out. You know Wrex and Tali are in the game, but their distinct, captivating personalities are lost.

Though the original game only made an appearance on Xbox 360 and PC, it won't matter if you don't yet know anything about the Mass Effect story or its universe. BioWare has actually done the hard work for you, because Mass Effect 2 is a huge interactive encyclopaedia that gifts you with everything you need to know to understand the game's extensive back-story. For this PS3 version, there's also a stunningly produced comic book from Dark Horse Comics that re-caps on the major events from the original sci-fi classic, in addition to allowing players to make a handful of choices that impacts on the narrative in Mass Effect 2.

The interactive comic which delivers the backstory allows you to make the key decisions that came during gameplay in the first Mass Effect so that even this expedient history of the series becomes your own. In this way you can begin your journey through this sequel with knowledge of what led to this point and with a sense of involvement in the preceding events. Once that is out of the way you'll be put into the meat of the game, essentially recruiting a team and solving the galaxy's problems like a smarter-dressed Captain Kirk with better guns and biotic powers.

As far as appearances go, I genuinely can't find much of a difference between the two console versions. The cutscenes look gorgeous, but then they always did. I dare say that the new engine has made a difference in some form or another, but I'd be lying if I said that I noticed a clear improvement. The only genuine contrast I did spot is that the frame rate seems marginally less stable in the PS3 game - but before you rush off to grab your pitchforks, let me add that I only experienced turbulence once or twice, and to a minor extent. We're not talking about a shuddering drop in smoothness, rather a tiny ripple on the surface of a still pond - or perhaps a teeny tiny lump in a mountain of sublime mashed potato.

Being able to catch up on the story and make the necessary choices with the motion comic is smart it helps to make the character feel like yours but there is nothing like going into the sequel with the full weight of the first story on your shoulders after playing the entirety of the first Mass Effect. The decisions you made, the people you met, and even those you killed have consequences, and it's hard to fully appreciate that weight when you're introduced to everyone through a glorified cut-scene. The first hour of the game is going to have much less impact for players who didn't play the first game, and that's a shame.

We already know PlayStation 3 gamers are going to get Mass Effect 3, so thankfully missing out won't happen with the third game. Bioware did the best it could to bridge the gap between the games, but after playing the first game there are a few reveals and moments in the second game that nearly caused me to tear up; PlayStation 3 gamers going into the world for the first time won't have the same experience. What's worse is that the choices presented to you in the digital comic are completely cut and dried: there is much less subtlety here than the game itself presented. Instead of having to stop and think about your choices, or being surprised at what some decisions entailed, you're simply told the outcome for both decisions and then asked which one you want to make.

For PS3 owners the wait to experience this thrilling ride is over and I can say, after playing both the Xbox 360 and PC builds beforehand, that this is the definitive product, the elite collectors edition that you should own, roll around in the mud with and eventually marry. Why? Because it really is as good as the score suggests.

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